In a major push to preserve India’s rich heritage of medicinal plants and promote public awareness, National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), under the Ministry of Ayush, signed two crucial Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) in New Delhi on Monday, August 4, 2025. The MoUs were signed in the presence of Union Minister of State for Ayush (Independent Charge) and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, at Nirman Bhawan.
The first agreement, signed with Pune-based IshVed-Bioplants Venture, aims to conserve rare, endangered, and threatened (RET) medicinal plants using tissue culture technology. The initiative focuses on developing large-scale protocols for cultivation and maintenance, ensuring sustained access to these critical resources for the Ayush industry. The collaboration is expected to significantly enhance the availability of high-quality medicinal plants while also preserving the genetic diversity and germplasm of at-risk species.
The second MoU brings together NMPB, the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. The three institutions will jointly develop a national-level medicinal plants garden within the AIIMS campus.
This initiative is aimed at spreading public awareness and sharing traditional knowledge with medical students, patients, and visitors from across the country. Officials stated that the garden will serve as a live resource for education, research, and community engagement.
Speaking at the event, Minister Prataprao Jadhav said the partnerships reflect Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for a healthier and self-reliant India by 2047. “By integrating traditional wisdom with modern science, we are moving closer to that goal,” he said, congratulating the institutions for taking a proactive step towards strengthening India’s medicinal plant sector.
Senior officials, including Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush; Dr. M. Srinivas, Director, AIIMS; and Ankita Mishra Bundela, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, were present at the signing ceremony, along with representatives from NMPB and AIIA.
